Page 18 of The Broken Elf King
His brow furrowed. “We don’t have any of your fancy human gadgets here, and there is nothing in her blood I would not smell.” He looked offended.
I relented, nodding. I was thinking some type of poison or a clotting issue, but she was six, and that would have been present at birth.
“You have to let it go.” He sighed and reached up to rub the bridge of his nose. “I’ve been over this case hundreds of times in my head. There is nothing that stands out other than she smells of blackberries every time I see her, which isn’t unusual considering they own a blackberry farm. I have other patients to see. Come on.”
He turned and fled down the hall, leaving me to my thoughts.
After doing a round of his patients and checking on them or healing their wounds, we made our way back to the castle to the Bow Men meeting.
The Bow Men were the elf king’s loyal elite army known for being soundless when walking, and deadly with an arrow. The meeting was a brief rundown of the city’s defenses, and my introduction to the top four commanders on his force.
Cahal, Ares, Tanin, and Arok.
We broke for lunch, in which I tasted all the food first, and then we were thrust into another three meetings. A tax meeting, land survey meeting, and the mining council. These meetings were the most boring things I’d ever had to sit through. I almost wished I was washing dishes. In the final minutes of the mining council meeting, I looked to the king to catch him nodding off, so I used my ankle to kick him awake slightly.
“Okay, I think I have a handle on the situation. Thank you,” King Raife said to the mining council and stood.
Oh thank the Maker!
I stood as well. “We will be in touch about the labor shortage issue,” I told them kindly.
They bowed their heads deeply as the king and I left.
My stomach rumbled as we walked down the hallway to the king’s private dining hall, causing me to blush nervously.
“I’m famished,” I exclaimed.
His lip curled in amusement. “What did you think of your first day? Honestly.”
Honestly—as if I could lie to him. I thought it was kind of cute he wanted to know what I thought of the job. “I like it. It keeps my brain active. The tax and land stuff are boring, but what job doesn’t have some snooze times? The food tasting thing still freaks me out. I keep waiting to feel ill—oh, and I can’t stop thinking about Corleena and how you healed her.” I said it all in a rush, completely forgetting I was talking to my boss, the king of the entire elf race. He was so… personable, and humble, and easy to be around.
He made a noise in his throat I couldn’t quite decipher. Ahmmorhrphm.
“Oh, and your council is really not fun,” I added.
That caused him to belly laugh, and a warmth trickled down my body.
I made the king laugh. It was a sound I liked hearing from him.
“I don’t think fun is in their job description,” he added. “And you have to let Corleena go or it will keep you up all night. Step one of healing is to keep yourself healthy. You cannot pour from an empty vessel.”
I frowned. “I know, but what if—?”
“And you’re not a healer,” he added sharply.
I bit my tongue as we entered the dining room. Two plates of food sat there with domed steel lids.
“Maybe it’s hard for me to let go because I’m an empath?” I asked coolly.
He stiffened. I wanted to know what that meant, what our whole interaction at breakfast was all about.
“After you taste my food, you may eat yours in the kitchens,” he said suddenly. “I’d like to be alone tonight. I have much to think about after the day full of meetings.”
I pushed down the sense of rejection and nodded. It was like I’d been slapped. The king had some mood swings, that was for sure.
“Yes, lord.” Lifting the lid on his plate, my mouth watered as I stared at the meat and potato stew with a buttered roll, and green beans topped with slivered almonds. There was even a slice of sweet potato pie. Picking up one of the three forks, I took a hunk of meat and potato from the stew and popped it into my mouth. A moan of pleasure escaped me.
“Your chef is seriously amazing. You should give him a raise,” I said.
